Women fought before fatal stabbing in Baltimore, police say

Carrie Wells, The Baltimore Sun

A woman was charged Monday with second-degree murder after Baltimore police said she got into a fight with another woman and fatally stabbed her.

Latresha Gowdy, 32, drove to her ex-husband's apartment in the 4400 block of Fairview Avenue to pick up her 3-year-old son on Sunday night, according to charging documents. Gowdy saw Gabrielle Smith, 30, sitting outside with her ex-husband, and Gowdy grabbed a beer bottle from a barbecue grill and threatened Smith with it.

Smith then pulled a pocketknife out of her pocket and threatened Gowdy with it as Gowdy's ex-husband and other men tried to keep the women from fighting. The charging documents say Gowdy's ex-husband went inside the home to get the 3-year-old boy, believing that he should get the child to his mother so that she could leave. When he came back outside, the women were still fighting, and when they separated, Gowdy collapsed to the ground. She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

A family member of Gowdy said Smith is the current girlfriend of Gowdy's ex-husband.

The medical examiner determined that Gowdy was cut on her arm and had a six-inch deep stab wound to her abdomen that hit a major artery, causing her to bleed internally. Smith told police she hid the pocketknife in the closet of the home on Fairview Avenue, where it was later recovered, according to the charging documents.

Smith was held without bail on the second-degree murder charge, and court records did not list an attorney for her.